Herbal Dyeing Process

Contrary to the exotic feel of the term "herbal dyeing", it is in fact a simple process; simpler in its form than its synthetic counterpart. What can be more straightforward than extracting colour present in the environment and fixing it on cloth? This is exactly what we at Aura manufacture: cloth that is pure nature in its true essence. Using organic cloth, we treat it to colour that has been extracted from herbs in eco-friendly processes. These are herbs that are renowned for their medicinal values, and are a gift of nature. Not a newfound process, it was a common practice in ancient India. Historically done by hand and on small scale, we here at Aura offer our innovations with large scale manufacturing on a varied range of cloth with several shades and prints.

We do not believe in the corruption of nature and its resources, and thus we only provide fabric that is completely organic as well as has no traces of synthetic or chemical dyes. Authenticity is our asset.

HERBAL DYEING PROCESS

The process of herbal dyeing was developed through extensive research on age-old dyeing methods practiced since the days of the Indus Valley civilization. The process of herbal dyeing starts with the gray cloth passing through several stages of treatment before it becomes colorful and ready to wear. During this entire treatment only natural processes are used.

Desizing

The washing of processed greige cloth starts with removing sizing, gums and oils used in the course of weaving by washing with natural mineral-rich water and sea salts.

Bleaching

Fabrics are exposed to direct sunlight and use of a natural grass base and animal manure starts the bleaching process.

Mordanting

To make the colors bright and fast, natural mordants such as myrobalan, rhubarb leaves, oils, minerals, alum, iron vat etc are used. We do not use heavy metal mordants like copper, chrome, zinc, tin etc

Dyeing

Aura uses only medicinally rich herbs, plant material, minerals & oils like, turmeric, myrobalan, castor oil, sea salt etc for dyeing fabric or yarn. We have aspired to achieve and retain the medicinal qualities of the herbs by immersing the plant material directly in the dye bath for the same reason.

Finishing

In herb dyeing, finishing is done by sprinkling pure water on the cloth and then stretching under pressure, using hand rolls, aloe vera, castor oil etc.

Recycling Plant

Solid and liquid waste is separated through the process of filtration and used for farming purposes as manure and for watering the fields.

Some facts of Chemical Processing

Chemical dyeing processes use over 8000 different chemicals in its various stages.As high as 40 times the weight of the fabric, water is required to process the same.Most of the so called eco-friendly dyeing or LOW impact dyeing available on organic as well as conventional cotton is still being dyed by using huge amounts of chemicals and dyes but in permissible limits. Thus they may be LOW impact but certainly not NO impact.The Eco cycle or ORGANIC Textiles can only end with True Organic processing where the waste is reused for e.g. in the form of manure.

HERBS

Haritaki

Haritaki is so named because it grows in the abode of Hara (the Himalayas); it is natural green (harita) in colour and cures (harayet) all diseases.

Therapeutic usage:This is known as the king of herbs for its high medicinal properties.

Turmeric

Turmeric belongs to the same family as ginger, Sometimes known as 'Indian saffron', It is the source of the familiar yellow colour of many Asian curry dishes. Both the culinary spice and the dye are obtained from its root. Turmeric was and is still used for textile painting and printing in India.

Indigo's ability to produce an extensive range of beautiful blue shades has made it the most successful dye plant ever known. The commercially available indigo powder is made from the leaves of Indigofera tinctoria, which requires hot, sunny, and humid growing conditions to flourish.

Madder's leafy tops sprawl untidily over the ground and their clusters of tiny yellow flowers look insignificant. Yet to the dyer, madder is a miracle of nature because its roots contain alizarin, one of the most valuable red dye pigments ever known.

The succulent pomegranate fruit yields an ocher-yellow dye and the skin is rich in tannin, which improves colorfastness. The pomegranate dye lacks brilliance so it is often mixed with turmeric root to make the color brighter. In India and Southeast Asia it is used as a mordant and a dye.

The outer skin of this common vegetable is one of the most useful and readily available dyestuffs. It is ideal for a novice dyer's first experiments since it reliably produces rich, vibrant shades of orange, yellow, rust, and brown on all fibers, and does not impart any odor to the dyed materials.

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